Rejected
by alno1935
Summary: A story about a nord who is rejected by his own mother because he was born with a large amount of magicka which of course causes his life to be anything but normal even in the world of the elder scrolls. any feedback would be very much welcome and I will try to listen to any suggestions given (I don't own skyrim or any elderscrolls content within this story)
1. Chapter 1

Even in the middle of the night the sky shines with the two moons and millions of stars. Two guardsmen are patrolling the pathway just outside of Ivarstead, passing the time with stories of things they found in the wild.

"I swear by Talos! The entire skeleton was buried underground 'cept for the arm and hand!" the first guard says enthusiastically.

"ya ya and inside its hand was a legendary sword which got stolen off you a moment later by a group of Kahjiit bandits." the second guard waves him off, obviously not believing the tale.

"But even if it were true I got you beat. Once, when I was back in Riften, I came across this massive stone just behind the town. I was patrolling late that night and decide to get a closer look when suddenly I heard something. I rush to the bushes all quiet like right? I thought they looked suspicious, dressed all in black with masks covering there faces. There were only two or three of 'em and they all walked up to the stone. At first I couldn't see anything happen but a moment later they started walking into the stone!" He says loudly causing the first guard to flinch slightly.

"Alright, I'll admit that it sounds interestin but what did ya get out of it?" the first guard asks with interest.

"well umm… wait did you hear that?!" the second says with a hushed yell. The first guard perks his ears upward.

"I don't hear anything… wait… no I do, what the hell is that?" the first says a bit confused.

"is that… crying?" he says confused as he runs to the sound with the other guard on his heels. What they find in the middle of a field shocks them. A small basket with a wailing baby inside wrap in blankets.

"what in the world? A babe? Nord or Breton right?" the first guard asks when he has the child in his arms.

"look at his chin, its gotta be a Nord. Why would someone leave a child out here." the second responds getting a closer look. The child stops crying and looks up at the guard and starts smiling. The guard chuckles slightly and bounces it a bit to try to get it to laugh a bit more. The child laughs and reaches for the mans beard. A small fire shoots from the baby's hand and sets the guards beard alight. He jumps back and drops the babe, the second guard acts quickly and dives to catch it.

"Careful you troll brain!" the guard yells to his partner from the ground.

"The little runt just set my beard on fire" he tries to explain while patting out the last bit of embers on his face.

"Magic?! That's it I am not dealing with this!" the second guard says trying to hand off the little bundle of blankets to the first guard.

"Oh come on, I know we Nords don't trust magic but we can't just leave it out here to die. Isn't there a place in Riften?" he asks but not accepting to hold the child.

"Ya, a courier was handing out pamphlets in town. Something about an orphanage. So what just pay a courier to bring it there?" the second guard asks only half serious but the first guard shrugs and pulls out a coin purse and a parchment.

"here, you know how to right so just say that he needs to go to Riften" he hands the piece of paper to the second guard and starts walking back towards Ivarstead.

"Were just going to leave it on the courier's doorstep?" the second guard asks, catching up to the first. The first guard nods and holds the child while the second finishes the note. They both quietly enter the small village and hurry over to the courier's house where they gently place the baby who starts to cry as soon as he is let go. The two guards panick slightly and ran away before they could get caught. The courier opens his door and looks around drowsily before his eyes rest on the small crying baby on his doorstep.

"Hello little one, what are you doing here." He says picking up the child. The parchment falls out of the blankets and he picks it up.

"Riften eh…? Alright well I have a delivery that way anyway but I suppose you need something to eat. Goats milk is all I got kiddo" he says walking back inside and making a makeshift bottle to feed the child. Soon there on there way to Riften.

It takes about 6 hours for the courier to get to Riften and to the orphanage

"Thank you madam, the child was simply left on my doorstep with a note to bring him here. Now then I should get back to work" the courier says with a slight bow and walks off.

"Hello there. You're going to be staying with us from now on." The woman says softly and calls for the others to come say hello. A bunch of kids ranging from ages of 4 to 15 rush into the room to look at the new addition to the there "family". All the kids surround her near immediately to try and get a closer look at the small boy. He starts crying when a kid accidentally knocks him a bit too hard.

"Emily! Be careful! He is to small to be that rough" she scolds

"Sorry Michel…" she responds with her head down. Michel raises her hand over the babes head and takes a deep breath. Her hand starts to glow slightly as she summons magicka into her hand and presses it gently onto the child who calms down instantly.

"And that, children, is what you call illusion magic, a calm spell" she tells the children around her who are staring with wide eyes.

"Hey look, he is doing it too!" one of the point out and sure enough from the babes hands a glowing light is flickering slightly. Michel stares with her eyes just as wide as the children's around her.

"My goodness. To even be able to attempt at such a young age…" she whispers more to herself before shaking her head to snap out of the slight trance.

"alright children off to do your chores, I need to feed… Sage" she says with a slight pause to think of a name. the children let out a collective sigh at the thought of having to clean but rush off to do it anyways while Constance sits down with a bottle and feeds the newly named Sage.


	2. Chapter 2

"Sage! Could you come out here and help me repair this door!" Michel called me from outside. I quickly grabbed a spare hammer from Michel's toolbox and helped her to hammer in a few nails.

"Where did this new hole come from?" I asked curiously

"Not sure, I was hoping you knew something but I suppose not" she answered while trying to hold a nail steady in an awkward position. She suddenly yelps when she strikes her thumb instead of the nail with the hammer.

"Are you alright!?" I asked surprised by the blood coming from under her nail while she sucks the blood to prevent a mess.

"Here, let me see it" I told her and pulled her hand closer to me for a better view. I put my hand over it and concentrated, thinking of her flesh mending itself back together.

"Healing hands is it now?" she asked, inspecting her thumb. I nodded but looked down, she has told me to try and keep my magicka use to a minimum. Instead of scolding me she patted my head

"Thank you sage. This kind of reminds of when you were brought her eight years ago, you tried to copy I spell I used then." She sounded like she was talking more to herself then me but I nodded none-the-less.

"You didn't forget my birthday right?" I asked to change the subject a bit which caused her to smile kindly.

"Of course not! A boy only turns eleven once right? How on earth could I forget" she spoke with mock hurt in her voice, causing me to giggle a bit.

"Now off you go, your birthday isn't until tomorrow so you still have some chores to do" she said motioning for me to go inside. I sigh but go inside any, most of the chores were done and the other children were playing games around building.

"Hey Sage! You can make magic right?" a small child came up to me and asked as soon as I walked inside.

"Yes but it's called magicka and you don't make it, Gabe, you use it." I corrected him not unkindly. For as long as I could remember I could always understand magicka far better than anyone my age, even a High Elf child that stayed with us for a short time.

"Can you turn invisible?" he asked me, ignoring my correction.

"I can for a little bit but I'm not supposed to." I told him while remembering the first time I saw that spelled used. It was in the marketplace and something trip over a patch of air that turned out to be a thief using an invisibility spell. Before we could see what happened next Michel rushed us inside. Gabe grabbed my hand while I was lost in thought and dragged me into the basement. I looked around at the familiar basement but I don't resist the smaller child.

"Hey Sage, could you help us out a bit?" I recognized the voice as a 15 year old Wood Elf named Drake. He was considered the "boss" among us all but was always getting into trouble with the guards.

"What d-do you want Drake?" I asked trying to sound brave but my voice ended up breaking.

"I want you to make me invisible so I can get us some food, no biggy right?" He spoke firmly and looked down over me for intimidation. I could feel my legs quiver slightly and I found myself nodding to him. He grinned menacingly before he grabbed my hand and dragged me outside.

"Alright now do it" he said after we arrived in an alley next to the inn's storehouse. I shook my head and backed up a bit.

"I-I can't. I can only turn myself invisible, I don't know of anything that turns others invisible." My voice broke from fear of being beaten up, it wouldn't have been the first time Drake beat me up. Instead of getting angry he just smiled.

"Then you'll have to do it and if you don't we'll all beat you up everyday until you do." He threatened me with his two friends flanking me. I nodded quickly to avoid being hit and he pushed me forward a bit to encourage me to do it. I took a few deep breaths to gather my magicka and get it all to the center of my body. I looked back at Drake once before casting the spell. I looked down at my hands to find them near completely translucent, all that remained of me was a small shimmer in the air. I knew that I had a minute at most so I rushed into the storehouse and started grabbing as much food as I could carry. Mostly there were bread rolls and even some sweet-rolls but I knew I had no time to try to find more.

"Stop right there! Don't move, we no you're there!" I heard a powerful voice from behind me and I instantly put my hands in the air which caused all the bread rolls to fall to the ground. Before the guard grabbed me the spell wore off and I was completely visible.

"A child from the orphanage eh? Well come on then, you're in allot of trouble" he said grabbing my hand and pulling me away from the food. I had no energy left to fight back, the invisibility spell drained me.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, I just like to thank you for continuing to read my fanfiction and ask that if you see any grammatical errors to please leave them in the reviews. Past tense and future tense is what I'm mainly worried about. If there are too many mistakes then just give an example or two, thank you! I would also like to thank Ms. Atomicbomb for the suggestion/advice.**

"Here you are Michel, try to keep your children out of trouble" the guard said strongly before he walked off leaving me with her.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Michel asked me not raising her voice but not being gentle. I looked up at her drowsily and before I could get a word out I collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

I woke up a few hours later in bed with Michel sitting next to me dabbing a damp cloth on my head. My eyes flickered open and she instantly gave me a look with a mixture of both disappointment and worry.

"Why did you use your magicka to such an extent to steal?" she asked me softly and I couldn't help but feel a mixture guilt and shame tighten in my chest. I looked away from her; I knew that if I told her the truth Drake would follow through with his promise to beat me up. She sighed heavily and placed the cloth to the side

"Try to remember that magic is both a good and bad and the way you use your own magicka depends on how others around you will see magic in general. I know that you wouldn't have been so much stress on yourself for selfish reason… now get some sleep, I'll see if I can talk some sense into Drake" I flinched heavily at the name

"How did you know it was him?" I asked grabbing her hand to stop her from leaving.

"I notice things among my children Sage and I'm worried how he will turn out." She spoke calmly but I still refused to let go.

"You can't tell him… he's almost 16, right? So he won't be here for much longer anyway!" I said a bit too desperately.

"Yes I suppose so but you shouldn't run from all your problems, because there are bound to catch up to-"

"Promise you wont bring this up with him!" I interrupted her, pleading

"….Alright fine, I promise I won't talk to him about this, but you have to realize that you can't run from everything. Now get some sleep, the other kids will be in here soon" she agreed and walked out of the room with only a quick glance back to me. I knew she was worried but I couldn't get Drake in trouble or it would turn out far worse for me. I fell asleep before the others came in that night.

"_you have to run! No one here cares about you! Not even Michel with her kind words and soft touches. She talks about you to the other adults, about how much of a freak you are!" _I couldn't tell where the voice was coming from; I couldn't even tell where I was.

"**STOP IT!" **I screamed back at it but it never listened.

"_They all hate you! There scared of you! Why do you think none of the others will play with you! Why do you think Drake beats you! __**IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE HATED AND FEARED!"**_

"**STOOOP IIIT!**"

I woke up with a start, panting and drenched in my own sweat. I looked around for a moment thinking I was still in the dream but my eyes adjusted a moment later and I could see the other beds with the children sleeping soundly. I decided that I needed to get some air. I jumped out of bed quietly as to not wake the others and put on my shoes. I placed my hands over my feet and concentrate on gathering my magicka and wrapped it around my feet. I smiled at myself for successfully casting a muffle spell but I didn't celebrate for long before quickly getting outside. The night air felt good on my face when I walked outside. I made sure to stick more to the shadows to avoid being seen and questioned by guards. I wanted nothing more than to be alone but fate seemed to have different plans for me that night. While I was wandering the alleyway I heard a small whimpering and a voice that was to quiet for me to understand at this distance. I knew it was a bad idea to follow it but I gave into my curiosity not a moment later and ran to the alleyway the noise was coming from.

"Shut up brat! Unless you want to end up like your mother" the voice was male and obviously annoyed at something. When I got closer I saw a small girl leaning over a lump on the ground. A man holding a knife that was dripping with something was standing less then a foot away from them. I gasped loudly when I realized that the knife was dripping with blood and the man whipped around. He grinned that same grin I saw so many times on Drake.

"Hello there little boy, what do you think your doing here" he said closing in on me. As he got closer I tried to back up and tripped over a protruding rock. I landed with a grunt but tried to scramble backwards, away from the man. For a moment time seemed to stand still and I heard the familiar voice from my nightmares speak

"_You know the spell, just use it!" _was all it said before I came back to reality. I raised my hand towards the man and I could feel a cold energy start moving to my palm.

"S-stay back! Please!" My voice breaks from desperation and the man laughs at me. he ignored me and continue walking forward.

"Why couldn't you just stay back…?" I whispered to myself with tears of fear fall from my eyes. An ice spike shot from my hand and landed inside the man's throat, cutting off his laugh with a sickening gurgling sound. The little girl behind him screamed loudly when the man hit the floor with a thud. I heard the guards rushing to the scene, drawn by the scream, but I couldn't know what happened after that. I still hadn't recovered from the invisibility spell and the ice spike was too much for my body to handle which cause me to collapse for the second time that day.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for taking so long, been a bit occupied with work and such but I'm hoping that it will ease off soon so I can give a chapter a day. As always I'm very open to suggestions and advice on how to better the story just leave it all in the reviews, thanks!**

"_You killed someone!" the voice yelled at me._

"_I had to! You told me to!" I tried to defend myself._

"_Do you think they will care?! Sure they may say to your face that your innocent but behind you back they be afraid of you! They will think of you as a freak! They will think you're a monster! And guess what…?" it quieted down as if it was coming closer to me. I tried to bring my hands to my ears but that did nothing to block out the harsh words._

"_You. Are. a. MONSTER!" it screamed into my ears and all I could do was curl up and whimper. _

"_MONSTER!"_

"_FREAK" _

"_ABOMINATION!" different voice kept chanting this around me as if I was in the center of a circle with them surrounding me. Suddenly I could feel a warmth, I nice warmth that quieted the voices. A part of me wanted to scramble for it so it wouldn't leave but I was afraid if I moved it would flicker out._

"Wake uuupp. Come on you've been asleep for like ever!" a soft female voice started to wake me up.

"Hush child, he can take as long as he needs" Michel's familiar voice woke me up completely. I looked around at the familiar surrounds and thought that maybe it was all just a bad dream. The sight of the little girl from the alleyway stomped that hope out before it could bud. She was holding onto my hand tightly and it reminded me of the warmth from my dream. This little girl, I could tell she was a Breton now and she was at least 2 years younger than me, was able to quiet the voices.

"Are you alright Sage?" Michel snapped me out of my little trance and I nodded quickly to her.

"Just a bit tired, thank you" I said politely, feeling awkward for some reason.

"How could you be tired? You've been asleep for the past three days!" The little Breton said with her mouth agape.

"Hush Willow, you don't need to scare him" Michel said a bit sharply and the Breton looked down at the sheets embarrassed

"Sorry Miss Michel…" she murmured quietly and Michel placed her hand on her head

"It's alright, and please since your staying with us just call me Michel" she comforted Willow kindly making her smile again. I sat there the entire time trying to understand what was going on, thankfully Michel noticed my confusion

"After what happened to her mother Willow will be staying with us until she is adopted" she explained and I remembered the lump under the crying child, that must have been her mother. I looked down at my hands, not wanting to make eye contact.

"I-I'm sorry… maybe if I got there sooner…" I wasn't entirely sure why I was apologizing but it just seemed like the right thing to do. Willow shook her head and raised my chin to make eye contact

"Mama isn't dead. She always told me that as long as I remember her then she can never die" she said with a smile and I could a slightly shocked look on Michel's face. I knew that she was thinking the same thing as I was, that this child was far stronger then most others. I knew there was something different and I couldn't help but smile at her own smile.

"well com along children, now that your out of bed you can get some chores done and show Willow around" Michel said, shaking off the shocked look. Both Willow and I nodded and ran off quickly.

Over the next 6 years Willow and I kept close together, mainly because the other children were mostly Nords who mistrusted the magic that both Willow and I started practicing in private. I tried to teach her some new spells the way I learned but she could never seem to get it unless we got our hands on a spell tome.

"How can you learn magic without a spell tome? Mama always told me that you had to read one to be able to understand how the spell worked." Was something she asked often and my reply would always annoy her to no end.

"I just see a spell and get it, I can't really explain it." is all I would say and It was the truth, I never understood how I was able to use my magicka so easily. Whenever she asked the question like that, with wonder in her voice, I always felt better about my powers and abilities rather than ashamed. With so much happening I all but forgot the approaching day. The day that I would have to leave the orphanage.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just like to thank those who have continued to read and also ask for a bit of advice. I have played Skyrim on both pc and console so should I stick with the normal Skyrim spells and logic or should I incorporate some mods and such into it? Leave any suggestions in the reviews please and I hope you enjoy the fifth chapter**

"Are you sure you have to leave tomorrow? I mean Michel loves you so I bet you could convince her to let you stay a bit longer..." Willow said trying to fight my upcoming departure.

"Rules are rules Willow, " On my sixteenth birthday I will be considered an adult and I will have to leave the orphanage," those were the exact words all of us are told when we were brought here." I tried to explain to her but I found myself wanting to stay even a day longer. I knew that if I really tried I might have been able to convince Michel to let me stay another night but that would just make everything more painful. I placed my last shirt into my burlap sack; I only had two, and tied a knot around it.

"There, all ready for tomorrow, just need to get the money I've saved up for a carriage." I said more to myself then to Willow but that didn't stop her from asking why.

"I'm heading to Winterhold, to join the mages college," I said with a hopeful smile but Willow looked at me with squinted eyes.

"How on earth will you get in? Sure can cast spells but you're an idiot when it comes to the actual logistics! You don't understand how magic works or how your magicka turns thoughts to reality" she pointed out with a touch of anger in her voice.

"I'll figure it out, besides I can't really take you with me now can I? You're not old enough to leave" I said firmly but I could tell from the smirk she gave me that she had already thought of something to get around the rules, much like she always has.

"Adopt me then." she simply shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal at all.

"Your serious... aren't you? I mean how that would even-or why would... It won't work" I sounded very unsure of myself but before she could continue Michel walked in with a few children running in from behind her.

"Hey you two, have you decided that your going to help me yet or still bickering about tomorrow?" she asked with a tired smile and I hopped off the bed to help rush the children into there beds

"Hey Michel...? mind if I spend the night outside? I kind of need some air" I smiled hopefully.

"Of course, just try to stay out of trouble and of course no magic. I know that you and Willow have been studying and practicing." she said with a chuckle while tucking a child into bed. I thanked her quickly and rushed out the door before she could change her mind.

I walked to the gates and gave the guard a nod before pushing them open and walking through them. I waved the guard off as he warned me to be careful. Right away I ran east of the gate until I came to a large rock with an odd insignia on it. I went to its left and searched for the rock I placed there a few years ago to safely hold all my gold. It didn't take me long to find it and with a smile I open the top of it and pulled out a small coin purse. I knew it held about 80 gold coins and I had already asked the carriage driver how much it would cost. He said about 50 so that should leave me with 30 for some food when I get there.

"So this is where you've been running off to after you get paid for your odd jobs" Willows voice had startled me to no end

"By the divines! Willow you scared me half to death! What are you doing out here anyways?" I asked trying to calm my breathing.

"Snuck out of course. You're going to need my help and you know it" she said with a smug smile and I sighed heavily.

"All I need to do is pay the carriage driver and that's pretty much it. I'll be there in no time" I said with a convincing smile

"Why don't you want me to come?! Why do you want me to stay here alone?!" she yelled at me with anger growing to fury in her voice. Before I could answer we both heard a small growl coming from behind me. it only took a moment for the creature to pounce at me but Willow was able to jump in front of me to keep the saber cat's jaws off my throat. I heard a sickening crunch as its jaws wrapped around her arm but the crunch seem to come from the beasts teeth. When I looked at Willow all around her I saw a light covering her skin and in an instant I wrote the stone flesh spell into my memory and used it to punch the beast with the hardness of stone. It yelped and jumped back but didn't retreat right away. I had to launch an ice spike at its feet to scare it off for good. I crouched down to inspect Willows arm which was bleeding slightly.

"you didn't put enough of your magicka behind the spell…" I said while casting healing hands to close the wounds quickly. She shook her head

"Why do you want me to stay…?" she repeated her question from earlier.

"Because I don't want this to happen to you, this trip wont be easy and I couldn't bare the thought of you dying" I told her quietly while helping her on her feet

"and how do you think I would react if I found out you died? How would I even know?" her voice started to get louder again and I sighed heavily in defeat

"fine, I'll talk to Michel about it. If she'll let me then I'll take you with me to the college. Now come on, we should head back before anything else happens" I agreed with her plan finally and started walking. I could tell that she was pleased with herself for convincing me. This journey was bound to be hard but I couldn't help but let a smile slip at the fact that I wouldn't have to face it alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hope you enjoyed the chapters before this one and I hope you continue to read and leave reviews. I'm still asking your opinion if I should incorporate mods into this story and also if you have any suggestion you'd like me to consider please don't be afraid to leave them in the reviews. Thank you once again!**

"Absolutely not! No way I'm I letting one of my children go out that far north. She'll freeze to death!" Michel sounded angry but not entirely sure of herself. Willow and I came in the night before and decided that we would wait until morning to ask Michel about the adaptation. I woke up first so I decided that I would ask her alone.

"Come on, you know that won't happen because were both perfectly capable of handling ourselves." I tried to sound convicted and it seemed like my words were starting to have an effect on her.

"And what if I just leave without telling you?" Willows voice made us jump, we must've woken her up and that means that the other kids would be awake as well.

"I would extremely upset… could you help get the other children ready for breakfast? I just need to talk to Sage about this" Michel said after calming from the initial shock. I motioned for her to go back to the other kids before she could continue the argument. She listened but not before giving me a bit of a glare as if saying that I better not screw up.

"You know she will leave… You might as well let me protect her." I say quietly so that the children that were rushing out of the room couldn't here me. She sighed heavily in defeat.

"I am running out of room in here… and you two have been through allot…" she whispered more to herself but I still couldn't help but remember how I first met Willow. Those dreams haunted me often but I never once regretted what I did because I knew that if I didn't Willow could have easily been killed.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories" Michel said when she notice my dark expression. I shrug her off

"it's not to bad anymore, it has been 6 years since then" I said with a smile, acting mostly and Michel obviously noticed but dropped the subject none-the-less.

"Fine, I'll deal with the paper work but I swear if I hear something bad about you to I will bring you straight back here and punish you myself!" she pointed a finger at me strictly and I chuckled before agreeing to her "terms".

"Now go help her with the breakfast. I'll add some items to your sack so you two don't starve or freeze on your trip." She was walking away as she spoke so couldn't see her face but I swear I could hear tears in her voice.

When I got to the table Willow looked at me curiously and I gave her a smile, telling her that I convinced her. she immediately brightened up and happily handed out all the kids breakfast before sitting down next to me to eat her own. a few hours later Me and Willow are at the gates of Riften with Michel talking so fast we could barely catch any words

"And watch out for wolves! Make sure that you don't drink saltwater and keep away from Mudcrabs and Skeevers, they carry all kinds of diseases! Try to remember that-" she continued on like that for another 5 minutes before I placed my hands on her shoulder

"We'll be ok, alright? You have the other kids to worry about so just focus on them. Don't worry about us" I said with a smile and Willow nodded to add emphasis. Michel looked as us for a few moments in silence before hugging us tightly

"Just be careful… and don't be afraid to come by anytime to visit" her voice broke only a little and she let us go. We turned and walked outside the gate with a few glances back at Michel before it closed completely. We looked at each other and smiled happily, we may have been on our own now but that also meant freedom that we could never have felt inside the walls of Riften. We nearly ran to the nearby carriage and I handed the man fifty gold pieces

"Winterhold please" I said with a smile and the man nodded before taking the gold and motioning for me to get in the back where Willow was already waiting for me with our sack of supplies.

"Ready?" she asked with a hand outreached to help me into the wagon.

"Ready!" I accepted her hand with a cheery smile and we were on our way


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for taking so long with this chapter, I've been busy as hell with work and school T.T hope you can forgive me and enjoy the next chapter of rejected! **

"Sage! Sage are you alright!" Willows familiar voice woke me up. I could feel blood dripping down my face and I couldn't remember what happened but I didn't have time to think. I looked around and realized that I was underneath a flipped carriage.

"Sage! please answer me!" Willow continued to call for me. I tried to call back but just ended up coughing up blood and when I felt around my stomach I could easily feel at least two broken ribs. I took a deep breath and focused my magicka throughout my body. I yelped when the bones started cracking back into place from the healing spell.

"Sage!? Was that you?" I heard her run up to the carriage and try to lift it to no avail.

"I'm here… What happened?" the healing spell was working and I could talk again with a raspy voice.

"I don't know, suddenly the driver yelled and the carriage started flipping. I was flung out but I landed on a soft spot of bush." She replied after giving up on lifting the carriage. Once the spell had finished pushing my bones back into place I tried to lift the carriage and found that it would be impossible for only two people.

"You need to get help! We can't lift this on our own" I told her firmly to try and prevent her from arguing. Before she could respond an oddly familiar voice called out

"That won't be necessary, my men will gladly help you." The way he said it reminded me of how Drake would speak to a wounded bird before killing it. When the wagon lifted I could see several hands holding it and one pair sticking underneath to pull me out. I accepted it, ignoring the voice in the back of my head telling me to run far away. I looked at the men who have dropped the wagon and were inspecting us. They were all wearing crude leather armor made from the pelts of animals and none of them seemed to have any better weapon than iron. I opened my mouth to thank them but two behind me grabbed my hands and forced me to turn around to face their leader. I really wished I listened to that voice telling me to run.

"Fancy meeting you here Sage" the man said with a sickeningly familiar grin.

"Drake…" The name sounded like a disease to me and I knew Willow had no good memories about him. He walked towards me with that horrible grin of his and pulled out a dagger and glass vial filled with some bluish green liquid. I emptied the contents of the vial onto the dagger and stared me dead in the eye.

"It is so good to see you again my friend" he said cheerfully as he plunged the dagger into my stomach. I gasped in pain and bit my lip to stop myself from screaming.

"Oh don't be such a baby; it's just a bit of magicka poison. I made it myself special for you" He sounded very proud of the poison but I couldn't dwell on the thought because I started to black out.

"You, heal his wounds so he doesn't pass out" Drake commanded one of the men and I could feel the healing energy start closing the wound on my stomach. It didn't help the feeling of being completely drained.

"You know I'm a bit curious to see how you will react to this particular poison. It drains all magicka and nearly completely stops any kind of regeneration. Some of my men argued that it was to powerful and that any mage affected with it wouldn't be able to cast even the simplest of spells for over a month." He explained while pulling out another vial of it and turning to Willow.

"Of course it doesn't work terrible well with Bretons because of that pesky dragonskin ability of there's. Letting them absorb magicka directly from an outside source overpowers the poison and simply hurts there regeneration. Same basic concepts with high elves but you don't have any special traits to help you, do you Sage? You're just a regular Nord who use a bit of magic to get what he wants" he said with a anger touching his voice while dipping the tip of the dagger into the vial.

"So this shouldn't have to much of an affect on you" he smiled to Willow but she started shaking her head with panic her eyes

"B-but I don't know how to use Dragonskin!" her eyes were locked onto the dagger and I could almost taste her fear. Drake simply shrugged

"Well then I guess were going to find out exactly how powerful it is" Just as he finishes speaking Willow pulls one of her arms free and pushes the blade in Drakes hand upwards to his face. He cries out in pain with blood dripping from his eye while one of the bandits punches Willow and gets a firmer grip on her arms. Drake growls angrily before snatching a health potion from one of his men and drinking it. The bleeding stops and the flesh already starts to mend itself.

"I was going to offer a spot amongst our ranks but now… I'm just going to kill you!" He growls at her and picks up the knife he just dropped. I tried to struggle against my captors but the poison had completely drained me of my strength. The next thing I heard was Willows cry of pain as Drake stabbed her in the stomach then all I could hear was a buzzing in the back of my head as I felt someone inside me break.

"_kill them all" _


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the delay hopefully I will be able to pick up the pace soon and get some more chapters out quicker. Remember if you got any suggestions feel free to express them, thanks!**

Blood curdling screams filled the air as fire horribly burned the two men holding me. Before they could react I launched balls of condensed fire that lit there entire bodies on fire. Everyone here watched in horror as there screams echoed in the distance. I turned my glowing blue eyes to Drake who quickly dropped his dagger and put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, alright calm down I wasn't really going to do it. I swear." He said with a smile while sweating heavily. I started walking up to him slowly and he motioned desperately for his men to stop me. The ones foolish enough to attack me I set ablaze with fire so hot it reduced them to a smoldering pile of ash. When I reached him I glared for a moment.

"Consider yourself lucky." I growled before grabbing his face with a fiery hand. His screams of pain were barley muffled by my hand I would've bet that hey could have been heard from solitude. He passed out after a few moments from the pain and fell to the ground like a rag doll. Alive but burned beyond recognition. I commanded the remaining men to leave and take Drake with them. They quickly obliged, terrified of the monster standing in front of them, and picked up Drake before running off. I could see Willow looking at me with a mixture of confusing of fear. I knew I should have felt sad but as my world faded to black all I could was weak and empty.

_"She'll hate you after this." the darkness spoke quietly at first but it started getting louder._

_ "You know that she's afraid of you now!" It laughed at me with it's demonic voice._

_ "Shut up! That isn't true!" I yelled into the darkness but it just seemed to swallow my words. _

_ "Where is your healing light now?! The one that drives me away. The one that she makes!" It yelled into my ears._

_ "Stop it!" I yelled uselessly back at it. _

_ "She's gone! She left you on the side of the road and ran for her life! And you know what?" it whispered inside my head my head._

_ "Not a single person would blame her for running from a monster!" It screamed into my ears and I could start to feel tears drip down my cheeks._

_ "Tell me, how good did it feel to burn all those people? Did you laugh while they screamed in pain? I bet you wished there were more people to kill!" It laughed hysterically as it continued its assault on me._

"Sage? Please wake up." Willows voice woke me up. I jumped up quickly only to be forced back down by dizziness.

"Whoa, calm down, your alright you just need to take it easy." Willow whispered softly while pulling a blanket from our bag over my shoulders. I was still shivering but not from the cold. The darkness's voice was still fresh in my mind and felt as if Willow was avoiding eye contact.

"Are you alright?" I asked trying to breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm ok, just a bit tired." She says with an obviously forced smile. before I could think of something to say my stomach growls loudly causing Willow to show a genuine smile.

"Hungry? Well you have been out cold for two days." She spoke as if it were nothing and I just stared at her shocked "two days?! By the nine it felt like a few hours!" I cursed loudly as Willow handed me some salted beef.

"you passed out after using so much magicka… I actually thought you were dead and by all rights you should have been…" she whispered more to herself then to me. once I again I noticed that she seemed to refuse to look me in the eye.

"Maybe it would've been better if a monster like me ended up dead…" I whispered to myself and the sharp pain in my cheek happened so fast I didn't know at first what happened. Willow slapped me.

"How could you even think about saying that!" she nearly yelled and all I could do was stare in surprise.

"How do you think I would react?! What do you think I would do without you!" Her cheeks were red from rage and there were tears in her eyes.

"Willow I killed people, I burnt them alive!" I respond in the same aggressive tone of voice as her.

"And what do you think they would have done to us?! You were able to defend both of us while I was shivering like a pathetic little girl!" she was yelling now

"… That's why you refused to look me in the eye…"

"What would you do? I couldn't do anything and had to watch you nearly kill yourself trying to save us both" she said crying silently. I sighed and out my hand on her head.

"please don't cry, the College will teach you how to defend yourself. Until then I don't mind protecting you. Now get some sleep you have been watching me for two days and I think you deserve a break" I spoke quietly but hope my words would at least comfort her. she nodded slowly and laid down while I stood up. I didn't know how much more we would have to go through but I hoped that it would get easier. We had a long way to travel and neither knew where we were but I honestly believed that it couldn't have gotten worse than this. I was wrong.


	9. Chapter 9

**I hope you all enjoy this installment of the Rejected series and I hope you will continue reading.**

I woke willow up at about noon with a quick nudge.

"Come on, we should continue heading north. How much food do we have left?" I asked her curiously.

"Not enough… I thought that we would be at the college within three days so I only pack enough for that." She was rummaging around in our packs while she spoke. I sighed and grabbed my bag.

"Well we should start moving sooner rather than later." I said helping her to her feet and going north.

"How do you know that we're heading going north?" Willow asks suddenly as we come up to a road.

"The sun rises in the east and sets in the west so I just use that." I pointed at the sun for emphasis. We continued to talk about thing that would never really matter for most of the day, only stopping once to eat the rest of our food. I was extremely grateful for the lack of silence. I couldn't help but remember when we were back at the orphanage and how we would outside to explore and talk.

"Soo… what happened to you exactly? I mean I could literally see magicka radiating off you" Willow asked after a few hours of walking. I stay silent for a long time and right when Willow opened her mouth to ask what was wrong I replied

"I don't know… all I could see was Drake walking to you with that dagger then a burning rage filled my body." Willow nodded to show she was listening.

"All I could think about was Drake hurting you and that just made the rage worse." I was whispering to myself now but Willow could still hear as I continued

"when all I could see and think about was Drake killing you I couldn't help but listen to the voice… and I liked it."

"Wait, what voice?" she asked worried. I looked up, a bit shocked at my own words.

"It's nothing. Come on! I see snow up ahead so Windhelm should be close now." I completely avoided answering and ran off ahead. When Willow caught up I pointed at a light in the dusk.

"There is Windhelm, we can rest there for the night" I said with a smile and continued running. I heard Willow call for me to wait but I didn't want to take the chance of her asking more about the voice. I only stopped to wait for her at the large gates into the city. I was smiling until I saw her frown.

"We need gold to get a room, remember?" she bursted my bubble in just 8 short words. Is sighed but led the way inside the town anyway thinking that we might as well warm up in an inn. It wasn't to busy inside the closest inn so we were able to sit right at the bar where a female Nord bartender was talking with what looked like a mercenary.

"yep, the guards just dropped the bounty off. The Jarl is offering anyone a full 500 gold reward to whomever can kill it" the bartender peeked my interest with the mention of such a large reward.

"Ay but it's a vampire inside a cave, who knows how many could be in there just waiting for someone stupid enough to go inside." The man replied, pushing the paper that the bartender place in front of him away. He took the last swig of his drink and walked outside. I jumped into his vacant seat and grabbed the paper. It said that the Jarl was offering a 500 gold reward to whoever could bring him the head of the vampire living in the cave just south of Windhelm.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you"" the women said putting her hand over the bounty notice. I shrugged carelessly, not really listening. The women sighed and moved her hand so I could pick up the bounty.

"Hey Willow look at this. 500 gold just for killing a vampire." I said as I rushed back to her. She looks at me with wide eyes

"500 gold?! We wouldn't have to worry about food for weeks! But vampires are deadly creatures." She added the last part nervously.

"Oh come on, it's just like taking care of some wolves back in Riften" I pointed out while thinking of the odd jobs the guards used to throw our way.

"I guess… from what I've read vampires are among the undead so fire is the best thing to use." She explained and I could already feel a slight burning sensation in my hands as I recall the flame spell and firebolt spell.

We stayed at the inn only long enough to get directions to the cave before heading out quickly. Neither of us talked much on the way to the cave, maybe because we were scared but I had to enjoy the exciting feeling swelling in my stomach. Once in front of the cave we stopped and tried to make something of a plan.

"So you will head in first and I'll stay behind you to watch you rearguard. I can only cast one or two firebolt spells with the amount of magicka I have but if there is only one vampire you should be able to handle it easily. Just remember to be careful and attack as soon as you see it" Willow explained it all very quickly and even though I could hear fear in her voice there was also a dose of excitement. Once we were inside the cave I charged up a firebolt in my hands to get ready and to give us a source of light. As we got deeper I could hear sounds of movement but the darkness was so complete I barely see anything past the light of my spell. Suddenly a quick flicker of movement caught my eye and I turned rapidly to only to find nothing there. I took a deep breath to try and calm myself down but my heart refused to slow its pace. The only thing I could hear was Willows somewhat rapid breathing and nothing else until I heard a small crying sound.

"That has got to be it… remember that they like to play with your mind so don't fall for any of there tricks" Willow whispered from behind me and I nodded in response before heading towards the crying. As I got closer I could tell that the crying voice belonged to a little girl but it didn't make sense why I little girl would be this far from any town and inside such a dark cave. Then I saw her. Her skin was far too pale to be human but I saw her small trembling body. Her teeth were far too sharp to be human but I saw how they chattered from the cold. Finally her eyes were far too red and vicious to be human but I saw the tears dripping from them. All I saw was a little girl crying and I couldn't let my fire fly at something so small and fragile. That hesitation gave the creature the perfect chance to launch itself at me with that pale trembling body and those glowing teary eyes. It latched onto my neck with those Sharp chattering teeth and started draining me of my life. It felt like it was ripping out part of my soul violently and consuming it with an unending hunger. It was the most painful thing I had ever experience then suddenly it was gone and I could smell burning flesh while the cave lit up with fire. Willow had ripped the creature off of my and set it on fire before it knew what was going on. Its screeches didn't sound human but I could almost feel its pain. When the screams finished Willow started moving her lips but she why didn't she make any noise. My head felt dizzy and I realized that it I was passing out again. I really had to stop doing that.


	10. Chapter 10

I regained conciseness but I didn't open my eyes right away, I was scared that another two days had passed in the blink of an eye.

"Please say that I just blacked out for a moment" I begged and Willows sigh of relief was nothing but comforting.

"Well it wasn't for just a moment. You've been out for about 20 minutes. I have a question" she said suddenly with a smile that seemed to mask something underneath.

"Yes?"

"Are you an idiot! Why didn't you attack it right away!? You may as well have titled your head and told it to take your blood!" she screamed at me with rage causing me to jump back in surprise.

"I-I thought it was just a little girl" I said weakly trying to defend myself

"It was a starving vampire with a pale sunken face and eyes like an animal! How in Meridia's name do you think it was!" tears were pouring out of her eyes then. I couldn't of something smart to do so I just put my forehead to hers and whispered

"I'm alright, I promise" she sniffled a bit and nodded

"Then let's get out of this cave and get our reward. I already put the things head in a sac" she stood up after she was done talking and started walking without another word. I followed behind quietly; I knew that even if she forgave me it didn't mean that still wasn't angry. The sun was shining brightly outside and I squinted my eyes almost completely shut. It seemed far brighter than normal but I just ignored it, thinking that it had to do with the blood-loss. I still felt weak and light headed so when Willow wasn't looking I tried to cast a quick healing spell but it didn't seem to have any effect whatsoever. I looked at my hand a bit confused but once again I simply ignored it and continued following Willow back to Windhelm. When we dropped disembodied head at the stewards feet all he did was stare at us for a moment with disbelief in his eyes.

"You two kids killed a vampire…? How…" He said shocked but he still pulled out the purse of coins and handed it to us. We accepted it but before we could leave a man that dressed like a noble approached.

"Good evening, I couldn't help but overhear that you two killed a vampire all by yourselves. That's quite impressive but not very surprising that a Nord was the one to kill it. I would like you to consider joining the rebellion and fight for what is right. Of course the invitation is extended to the Breton." The man's voice is far deeper than I would have expected from how he looks. Another thing I noticed is that the way he only extended the invitation to Willow when I looked at him with offense.

"I thank you for the offer but I have my own journey to attend to. Come on Willow" I said with a bit of an edge on my voice and headed to the door. I turned back once only to say

"Oh and it was her who killed the creature, I just got in the way" I smiled sweetly and walked out.

"you know that was the leader of the rebellion that you just talked down to right?" Willow spoke up once we were out of the jarls castle. I shrugged

"I didn't care for the tone he took when he talked of you" I said simply and I could hear Willow Chuckle from behind me. it didn't take us long to get back to the inn and once inside I let Willow take care of paying for our room. I felt weak and drained and not the same kind of drained like when I used to much magicka. This feeling was like not eating for days but not being hungry. I laid down in the bed that the Inn-keeper let us use and took my boots off.

"I'm going to grab us something to eat, I'm starving!" Willow's stomach growled loudly as she spoke as if to put emphasis on the point.

"no thanks I think I'm just going to sleep, I don't have that much of an appetite" I shook my head and wrapped the blanket around myself. Willowed looked a bit worried but dropped it and went to grab something to eat while I closed my eyes and let sleep take over.

_It was laughing again but not hysterically like it normally does. Its laugh reminded of someone who heard a mildly funny joke. I tried to ask what it was laughing at but my mouth wouldn't move, nothing on my body would. _

_"I'm going to have allot of fun with this one. Red is such a beautiful color isn't it?" the sound of the voice was the same as before but it was far more sane than before almost as if it just got smarter. _

_ "Do you pity yourself? Remember that if you do that you're just pitying me" It chuckle again while a shadow started forming in front of me. fear gripped my heart and all I could think of what would happen if this voice was given form. I tried to yell my protest but once again my voice is blocked but nothingness. _I couldn't feel the light next to me through my own fear that night.


End file.
